Hockey fans are being warned of potentially fraudulent or stolen Stanley Cup Final tickets on resale sites or by unverified sellers.
“With demand soaring for tickets, fans face increased risk of ticket fraud,” Ticketmaster said in an alert.
The alert comes as ticket prices for the games skyrocket.
The average ticket price to get into Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final Monday was reportedly more than $1,000. Game 4 has an even higher price tag, with tickets costing nearly $1,200 on average.
Suburban resident Jordan Meisles said he learned his lesson the expensive way this season when he purchased an $800 in tickets to see the Hawks take on the Ducks in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final.
“We checked Craigslist, we had a budget set at $250, found some tickets for even less in a great area,” he said.
Meisles said he emailed the seller to work out details, then met the seller outside what he claimed was his workplace. The tickets, which Meisles has since turned over to federal authorities, seemed real.
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“It had the perforated edges so you can tear it and all that,” he said.
But things went bad when Meisles arrived at the United Center for game time and the tickets didn’t scan.
“The tickets weren’t scanning so they held up the line while they kept trying to scan the tickets,” Meisles said.
A security manager then told Meisles and his family that the tickets were fake.
“I guess I wanted to go to the game so bad we were a little blinded going in,” Meisles said.
The United Center encourages fans to purchase directly from the teams or the NHL Ticket Exchange, the official resale marketplace of the NHL.
